Archives for July 2015

After an intense indoor soccer game last night, I decided to come home and have a nice recovery protein shake. I thought I would share this recipe because I have stayed faithful to it for about 6 months!

Any time I work my tail off in the gym or playing soccer, I try to have a protein shake within two hours to help with muscle recovery. I am such a chocolate lover that it is hard for me to explore other flavors of protein powder. So this shake recipe has been an all time favorite.

Blend well for about 1 minute. I usually have to scrape the sides of my Ninja Professional Blender (NJ600) to make sure all of my protein and PB2 mixes well. Then blend for another 20-30 seconds.

Once finished, I pour it into a glass. If I had an intense soccer game or a more cardio based workout, I will add the steel cut oats on top for crunch. If it was more of a weight lifting day, I may leave the oats off.

And here is your finished product!

**Extra Tip**

If you put this mixture in a bowl and freeze it for about 1 hour, it tastes almost sinful! I do this often and feel like I am getting a real treat!

It is summer time!! And one thing we ladies want is to be able to wear those backless and strapless summer tops with confidence! But how do you get started forming those back muscles? Well here is a great step-by-step guide you can use to get started.

My gorgeous gym partner and fellow dietitian Kendra is going to be our fitness model and show us some basic back movements.

First we will start with the seated row machine. Notice how straight Kendra’s back is and how her legs are slightly bent. This is the form you want to continue through your set.

Now as she pulls the handles in, notice how she brings them as far in as she can while continuing to keep her back straight and knees slightly bent. You will want to continue this movement doing about 15-20 reps at a low weight until you are comfortable with the movements. Once you are comfortable, begin to increase your weight and drop your reps (10-12). Always shoot for 4 sets.

The next exercise we will look at is the one-arm dumbbell row. You may want to attempt the movement without weight first to ensure proper form. Notice again how Kendra is keeping her back straight and using one knee on the bench for support. She is looking forward to assure good oxygen flow as she begins her set.

Then she will bring the dumbbell up keeping her elbow pointing backwards (not outwards) while she continues to keep her back straight. Continue to do this movement for 15-20 reps with light weight until you are comfortable with the movement. Once comfortable, begin to increase your weight and drop your reps (10-12). Always shoot for 4 sets (each side).

Next we will look at the bent over barbell row. Again Kendra has excellent form keeping her chest up, feet together, and arms about shoulder width apart. Her chin is up to assure good oxygen flow.

As she begins her first rep, notice how she pulls the barbell into her bellybutton, continues to keep her chin up, her feet together, and her elbows facing backwards (not outwards). Continue to do this movement for 15-20 reps with light weight (or no weight) until you are comfortable with the movement. Once comfortable, begin to increase your weight and drop your reps (10-12). Always shoot for 4 sets.

And the final back exercise is the low back extension. This is definitely something that should be attempted without weight first as shown below.

Pay close attention to Kendra’s form here. She has her arms crossed, body at a diagonal, and chin up. You may need to adjust the equipment so the pads are comfortable right on the hip bones. If you are unsure how to do this, just ask a gym staff member or someone nearby.

Once you are ready to begin, bend over as far as you can and slowly come back up to the position above. If you squeeze your backside as you come back up, this can work those glute (gluteus maximus) muscles also.

If you are comfortable with the movements, you can add weight by holding a weighted plate. Make sure the plate is secure within your arms and tight against your chest.

Once you are ready to begin, just bend all the way forward as Kendra is doing below.

Continue to do this movement for 15-20 reps with light weight (or no weight) until you are comfortable with the movement. Once comfortable, begin to increase your weight and drop your reps (10-12). Always shoot for 4 sets.

This concludes the beginner back workout! Many thanks to Kendra for sharing her excellent form! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. If you know anyone that could benefit from this workout, please share it by using the social media icons below!

If there is one thing we all have in common is that we have NO time in the morning for anything! Whether you are rushing around to get ready, you’ve overslept, the kids are fighting, or the dog needs to go out… we just don’t have time.

So how can we eat healthy without time?

EASY!! MEAL PREP!!

This is a step by step on how to make 20 fiesta breakfast burritos to keep in your freezer. And how to warm them up like they were just made! This has saved me over and over for those morning where time is just not an option.

First, I start with cooking the turkey sausage with my chopped jalapenos. For us, we like the heat of about 2 jalapenos. But add the third if you like that extra kick!

Cooking your turkey sausage first allows the pan to become coated so your eggs don’t get as stuck to the pan.

Once your turkey sausage is finished, place it off to the side in a large mixing bowl.

Next, it is time to cook the eggs. What I like to do is get a medium sized bowl and crack 6 eggs at a time, scramble them, and add them to the large mixing bowl to join the turkey sausage.

**Here is a little secret with my eggs… I am a HUGE turmeric fan! Turmeric is SO good for you in so many ways, I try to use it as much as possible. So as I am whipping my 6 eggs, I will put a dash of turmeric and garlic powder in the mixture.

Once I complete all egg scrambling, I now have a large bowl full of eggs, turkey sausage and jalapenos. After thoroughly mixing all these ingredients, you are almost ready for burrito rolling!

Make sure to chop your bunch of cilantro and have it in a bowl at your burrito rolling station. As well as your small bag of fiesta shredded cheese.

Once everything is lined up on your counter, grab your tortillas and begin the filling process!

Your tortilla will include 1/2 cup of your egg/sausage/jalapeno mixture, a sprinkle of your cheese blend, and a pinch of cilantro! Then you will roll it up and bag it!

Repeat 20 times and BOOM! You’re done!

Now you can load up the freezer and know you have twenty breakfast options waiting to be eaten!

Lastly, I like to give you an idea how to heat them up so they do not taste soggy.

The night before we plan to have one, we take a burrito each out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Once we get up in the morning, it is defrosted, we put it in the microwave on a plate for 30 seconds, and your burrito is ready to eat!

This is one of my favorite high protein, lower carb ways to eat a fast breakfast. It is totally worth meal prepping for an hour on Sunday to know my boyfriend and I don’t have to worry about breakfast planning for 2 weeks!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this breakfast meal prepping post! Please leave questions in the comments section. And if you know of anyone who could benefit from an easier and healthier morning, please share by using the social media icons below!

A lot of women ask me regularly what they can do to improve their arm strength and tighten up those loose areas. So this post is for you ladies!

I wanted to provide a step by step guide and explain where these movements will target. And also help you get started so you can get stronger over time.

There are three main areas I focus on when I think of arms and that is shoulders, biceps, and triceps. There are TONS of exercises for these areas, but this post will be a starter post.

SHOULDERS

The shoulder press can be done sitting or standing. Sitting is better for those with poor balance or if you are attempting this for the first time.

Start without weights at first. Just do a practice set of 10 to make sure you are keeping proper form. When you press, keep your arms by your ears, and on your way down, make sure you stop at a 90 degree angle.

Now… you’ve done your practice set, and you’re ready to add weight, but how much and how many reps?

If you are looking to “tone”, then you really want to do a lower weight with higher reps. For example: use 5-10 pound weights and shoot for 15-20 reps. This motion repetitively will induce a higher heart rate which is excellent for fat burning. Always shoot for 3-4 sets.

If you are looking to “build”, then you want the heaviest weight you can handle (with proper form) for 8-12 reps. In this photo I am using 25 pound dumbbells. Sitting on a bench usually allows you to push heavier weight. For me, I can increase by 5 more pounds and use 30 pound dumbbells.

If you are new to the weight lifting scene and you would like to build, I would still start with high reps and low weight first until you feel that your first two sets are a breeze. Once you consider those first two sets easy, move up in weight. Attempt a 5 pound increase per dumbbell. And do not be afraid to ask for a spot from someone nearby or a staff member!

Another great shoulder exercise is the standing/upright barbell row. You will definitely feel the burn in those shoulders!

You want to place your hands a little further than shoulder width apart. You will see markers on the barbell itself. Keep your back straight and pull the barbell up to your chest and keep your elbows pointing out as shown above.

Again, start with extremely light weight or a plastic rod (or broom even) to make sure your form is appropriate to avoid injury.

BICEPS

The bicep curl is the most common exercise to improve your bicep strength. Above you will see the three step movement to ensure proper form while doing your curl. It is important not to throw your weight up to your chest. If you feel that you are struggling to the point of swinging your dumbbells/barbell, you need to lower your weight.

If you are attempting this for the first time, please do 10 reps without weight just to make sure you are comfortable with the movement.

Then as we discussed above in the SHOULDERS section, use light weight to get comfortable with your form and to tone the area. Gradually build your weight to improve strength. Doing 15-20 reps will keep your heart rate up. Doing 8-12 heavy reps will begin the building process. Always shoot for 3-4 sets.

TRICEPS

This exercise is what we call the Tricep Kick-back. Tricep movements will help tighten up the backsides of your arms. This is the number one area I am asked about regularly by my patients. So I wanted to be sure I added this into the post.

There are many tricep exercises, but we will focus just on the kick-back and rope pull down.

This machine being used is the cable machine. My gym (Anytime Fitness in Madison) actually has tons of attachments for this machine. One of my favorites is the rope attachment.

If you have never tried using the rope attachment or a cable machine at your gym, ask a staff member to assist you in hooking it up. This way you can learn how to use this equipment properly.

Once you are all hooked up, attempt 10 reps with no weight to achieve proper form. You want to pull the rope down to where your arms are creating a 90 degree angle. You do NOT want to break this angle and begin bringing your arms to your chest. Next, you want to fully extend your arms downward and twist your wrists to swing the ends of the rope outwards as shown above.

As discussed earlier in the SHOULDERS and BICEPS sections, begin with light weight and high reps until you are more comfortable with the movements. Once you gain comfort with this movement, you can begin to increase your weight.

I hope this post was helpful! If you have questions, please leave a comment in the section below. You may also share this post by clicking the social media icons below!

I am BEYOND excited to share a new recipe I threw together last night! Chayote is an excellent non-starchy vegetable that most people in the United States are not familiar with. To learn more, click HERE. I would also like to add this dish is bariatric friendly! Enjoy!

First you want to wash the outside of your chayote and then peel with a potato peeler.

It helps me to cut them in half to be sure I peel all of the skin off in the crevice. There is also a thin seed inside, so do remove that as well.

Once your chayote is all peeled, slice them into very thin slices.

Here is where I added the olive oil, chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, oregano, and sage (The garlic powder will be saved for later ). I stirred the chayote around to evenly distribute all of the seasonings and coat the pan with the olive oil, then covered the pan. Place the skillet on medium heat for about 5 minutes then stir.

Once the chayote is very soft (enough to slice in half), I drained the liquid and moved the mixture to a bowl. This is where I added the Greek yogurt and garlic powder. You can definitely add more seasonings for flavor if you like stronger flavors!

To complete the dish, I sprinkled some chopped green onions on top! You will now have a healthy, low fat, high protein replacement for creamy scalloped potatoes!

Chayote is a non-starchy vegetable that belongs to the gourd family along with melons, cucumbers, and squash. Brazil, Costa Rica, Veracruz, Mexico and Abkhazia are known for growing chayote.

The chayote fruit is used in mostly cooked forms. When cooked, chayote is usually handled like summer squash, it is generally lightly cooked to retain the crispy consistency. However, you can cook it to a very soft consistency to make a potato dish. Check out my recipe HERE!

Raw chayote is also great chopped and added to salad, or eaten on the side with light salt and pepper.

There are tons of reasons to garden! It’s relaxing, rewarding, and gives you fresh ingredients without the trip to the grocery store. The only problem is, when we think of gardening, we may think constant weeding, mosquito bites, tilling, fencing, pests, and sunburns. So how do you garden so it’s fun, easy, and gratifying?

By using pots on the back deck!

This is a very minimalist way to garden that requires very little attention and can still provide you with great produce or herbs. For our climate in Alabama, tomatoes grow like weeds. They do require watering every few days, but that’s about it. It is also important to try and pick your ripe tomatoes within a day or two of reddening so they don’t get eaten by other critters (especially if you don’t want to use pesticides).

But there is something truly exciting about growing your own food. It is extremely gratifying to make your own pico de gallo with fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, and garlic right from your garden.

For many of my patients, they use gardening as a way to get exercise and improve their vegetable intake in their diet.

But for me, I use it as a way to relax. A way to provide fresh produce to my friends and family. Especially when I have a great turn out. Now that’s gratifying.

And if back deck gardening still seems like too much work, visit your local community garden or Food Bank. There are always people in need of fresh food and the feeling you get helping people is beyond satisfying.

Welcome!

I’m Tamar, a registered dietitian living in Alabama, fascinated by food, fitness, and travel. My goal for this blog is to help people learn more about how to live a long, healthy, and peaceful life to the fullest. Read More…